EmergencyGrid:Planning in Convergence Environments

Government agencies are often responsible for event handling, planning, coordination, and status reporting during emergency response in natural disaster events such as floods, tsunamis and earthquakes. Across such a range of emergency response scenarios, there is a common set of requirements that distributed intelligent computer systems generally address. To support the implementation of these requirements, some researchers are proposing the creation of grids, where final interface and processing nodes perform joint work supported by a network infrastructure. The aim of this project is to extend the concepts of emergency response grids, using a convergence scenario between web and other computational platforms. Our initial work focuses on the Interactive Digital TV platform, where we intend to transform individual TV devices into active final nodes, using a hierarchical planning structure. We describe the architecture of this approach and an initial prototype specification that is being developed to validate some concepts and illustrate the advantages of this convergence planning environment

B cell subset distribution in human bone marrow is stable and similar in left and right femur: An instructive case

The bone marrow (BM) is, in addition to being the site of B cell development, a tissue that harbors long-lived plasma cells (PC), the cells that protect the body against foreign antigens by continuous production of antibodies. Nothing is known about the long-term stability and functionality of both B cells and PC in the BM at the individual donor level since repeated sampling possibilities outside of oncology are scarce. Here, we had the opportunity to obtain BM samples from a patient undergoing bilateral total hip arthroplasty half a year apart. We observed that the frequencies of the analyzed B cell and PC subsets were similar despite a time of six months in between and sampling on left and right side of the body. Additionally, B cell receptor stimulation led to comparable results. Our data suggest that composition and functionality of B cells are stable in the BM of adults at the individual donor level

Towards fast simulation of environmental fluid mechanics with multi-scale graph neural networks

Numerical simulators are essential tools in the study of natural fluid-systems, but their performance often limits application in practice. Recent machine-learning approaches have demonstrated their ability to accelerate spatio-temporal predictions, although, with only moderate accuracy in comparison. Here we introduce MultiScaleGNN, a novel multi-scale graph neural network model for learning to infer unsteady continuum mechanics in problems encompassing a range of length scales and complex boundary geometries. We demonstrate this method on advection problems and incompressible fluid dynamics, both fundamental phenomena in oceanic and atmospheric processes. Our results show good extrapolation to new domain geometries and parameters for long-term temporal simulations. Simulations obtained with MultiScaleGNN are between two and four orders of magnitude faster than those on which it was trained

Concrete cracking control in underwater marine structures using basalt fiber

The construction of coastal ports requires the use of materials that meet the demands of the marine environment, to prevent underwater concrete structures from cracking and spalling easily; basalt fiber is used to delay the expansion of concrete and prevent the formation of cracks. This research studies the behavior of concrete for prefabricated piles with Portland Cement Type I and basalt fibers added in 0.1%, 0.3% and 0.6%; the results indicate that the fiber is suitable for concrete, the slump decreases, the compressive strength increases for specimens cured in tap water and sea water, the relationship between resistances does not vary, and the depth of carbonation decreases

Nasopharyngeal tuberculosis - A case report

A tuberculose (TB) é a doença infecciosa mais comum em todo o mundo. Tem várias apresentações possíveis, podendo atingir vários órgãos e inclusive mimetizar outras patologias, incluindo carcinomas. O aparecimento na nasofaringe é raro e o principal sintoma são linfadenopatias cervicais. Descreve-se um caso clínico de um adolescente de 16 anos, cujo diagnóstico de tuberculose nasofaríngea foi dificultado pela localização rara e pela negatividade da maior parte dos exames utilizados para o diagnóstico. O doente foi sujeito a terapêutica com tuberculostáticos durante um período de 9 meses verificando-se uma regressão completa do quadro. Muitas vezes só através da prova terapêutica é possível a atribuição de um diagnóstico definitivo. Em doentes com neoformações na nasofaringe e linfadenopatias cervicais é importante considerar TB como um diagnóstico diferencial.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The African hind's (Cephalopholis taeniops, serranidae) use of artificial reefs off Sal Island (Cape Verde): a preliminary study based on acoustic telemetry

The African hind Cephalopholis taeniops (Valenciennes, 1828) is one of the most important commercial demersal species caught in the Cape Verde archipelago. The species is closely associated with hard substrate and is one of the main attractions for SCUBA divers. In January 2006 a former Soviet fishing vessel - the Kwarcit - was sunk off Santa Maria Bay (Sal Island). Young C. taeniops are commonly observed in this artificial reef (AR). In order to investigate the species' use of the AR, 4 specimens were captured and surgically implanted underwater with Vemco brand acoustic transmitters. The fish were monitored daily with an active telemetry receiver for one week after release. Simultaneously, an array of 3 passive VR2 / VR2W receivers was set for 63 days, registering data that allowed an analysis of spatial, daily and short term temporal activity patterns. The results showed site fidelity to the AR, with no migrations to the nearby natural reef. The method used allowed to register a consistent higher activity during daytime and a preference for the area opposite the dominant current